01734nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653003000055653002200085653001100107653001000118653002300128653001200151653002500163653002500188653003000213100001500243700001600258700001600274700001200290245010900302856005100411300001100462490000700473050003200480520090600512022001401418       2008                            d  c2008 Sep10aDrug Therapy, Combination10aFollow-Up Studies10aHumans10aIndia10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aSecondary Prevention10aWorld Health Organization1 aDesikan KV1 aSundaresh P1 aTulasidas I1 aRao PVR00aAn 8-12 year follow-up of highly bacillated Indian leprosy patients treated with WHO multi-drug therapy.  uhttps://leprosyreview.org/article/79/3/30-3310  a303-100 v79  aInfolep Library - available3 a<p><b>OBJECTIVES: </b>To follow up highly bacillated leprosy patients for a long period after release from treatment (RFT) and to look out for possibility of relapses.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>660 patients with an initial bacterial positivity of 4 +, 5 + or 6 + who had undergone WHO multi-drug therapy and released from treatment, were followed up. The regularity of their treatment was kept high by close monitoring with home visits. They were reviewed twice, once 4 to 9 years after RFT and again 7 to 12 years after RFT. 516 patients were available in the second review. As per WHO definition, 5 patients were found to have relapsed, giving a relapse rate of 0.103 per 100 person years. This low relapse rate could be due to high regularity of treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>With well supervised MDT and high regularity of treatment and proper consumption of drugs, relapse rate is very low.</p>  a0305-7518